Report raises doubts about EU-Turkey migration deal

Any deal on migration that the EU strikes with Turkey would be almost impossible to implement, according to an assessment prepared for Eurojust, the EU's judicial cooperation agency.

The report was delivered at a Eurojust meeting at its Hague headquarters last month, according to a person familiar with the matter. A copy was provided to POLITICO.

The report suggests Turkey lacks the political will and the infrastructure to help stem flow of migrants into Europe.

"Contrary to EU opinion, migrants leaving Turkey is a dominant idea favored by the Turkish government and people — i.e., they support smugglers getting immigrants leaving Turkey," it states.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has been pushing EU leaders for greater concessions in return for Turkish support to stem the flow of Syrian migrants into Europe. On Monday, he demanded an extra €3 billion, visa-free travel to the EU for Turkish citizens, and accelerated talks on Turkey’s EU membership.

One of Turkey's latest requests is a one-in, one-out arrangement for handling migrants: for each Syrian migrant now in the EU that Turkey takes back, Europe will resettle one Syrian now in Turkey.

But the report is extremely critical of any deal with Ankara.

"Turkey has no specialized border or migrant forces, lacks sufficient visa legislation and has no independent judiciary," the report states, criticizing the Turkish government for not having a proper process in place for expelling migrants, who are "freed after a few days" and simply told to leave the country.

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Roy Jacobs

So Turkey will be happy to see an endless stream of Islamic migrants to the EU, and the EU are happy to see the same.
I’m shocked!

Posted on 3/7/16 | 10:28 PM CET

Vasilis

Europe…WAKE UP!!! Did not you have enough with Erdogan’s Turkey? They play all of you for fools…They are wheeling and dealing like the Carpet “Baggers” they are…and I mean the Sultan Erdogan and his government’s cronies, not the Turkish people…who as a whole are decent and mostly democratic and fair! Time you severed ties with such a regime…ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Posted on 3/7/16 | 11:17 PM CET

Maxine

Dear author and Politico,

Do you have the link of the Eurojust report, so I can do more further research on the subject.

Thank you 🙂

Posted on 3/8/16 | 7:05 AM CET

Ella

The EU is run by puppits and irrational and naive people, especially those in the Commission. We need real leaders who can stand up for European people, not for so-called refugees and Turkish interests in Syria. Turkey has not done anything in decreasing the number of refugees (we now Know why) but the EU has offer everything to Turkey. Merkel is blind. We need new leaders who can think strategically and Know a bit about the past and Otoman way of rule that conquered Europe a few centuries ago. Orban was right from the start! The EU is Dead with Merkel running it and selling our legacy out.

Posted on 3/8/16 | 11:56 AM CET

emma

This is the end of the EU. You cannot accept the Turkish proposal if they did not even respected the First deal (Action plan from October). Now the EU has left with nothing. The Turks did not decrease the number of refugees coming to the EU as it was suggested in the AP, but instead the EU opened the door for them even more bluntly: let’s give them visa free regime so that all the Turks can come to the EU without any control! Most of them are going to be illegal immigrants with false Turkish passports (don’t you Know that in Istanbul there are the biggest factories of EU documents?). Not just visa, let us accept all those new “refugees” that Turkey choses to send us! For free and as legal immigrants in the airplanes! This is cold a planned change of population. Not just that, let us give them also more Money for not doing anything in return. Dear Europe, you are screwed up. Merkel should finally be busted, along with Juncker, a crony banker in the centre of EU Commission.